juice vocal ensemble - anna snow : sarah dacey : kerry andrew

'No doubt about the night's stars... juice proved as tangy as their moniker. They have a delightful manner... but there's nothing casual about their technical skills.' (4 stars) The Times

juice are an experimental vocal trio who perform an incredible mix of sounds from Central African-inspired riffs to vocal percussion; ethereal harmonies to growly drones. Their unique sound is an avant-garde mix of classical, jazz, pop and folk, with mostly original works and improvisation. They also embrace inventive covers of Bjork and the Beach Boys and breathily twisted takes on British and American folk.

At the cutting-edge of the new classical/experimental scene, juice are as comfortable performing in clubs (such as Cargo, the Spitz or The Macbeth) as they are in large concert halls, theatres and reverberant churches.  They have featured on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and Resonance FM; were part of the BMIC Cutting Edge series and subsequent tour; performed in spnm's The Sound Source series and at Gabriel Prokofiev’s pioneering nonclassical night; and recently appeared in the Park Lane Group's Young Artists series at the Purcell Room, London Southbank, to glowing press reviews.  In 2007 they won second prize at the internationally-renowned Tampere Vocal Festival - the first UK prizewinners in the festival's history.  juice feature on NMC's 2007 release of Roger Marsh's Pierrot Lunaire.  They have appeared at numerous national and international festivals, had a concerto written for them, been conducted by Karl Jenkins in his Requiem and also perform works by avant-garde 20th Century pioneers such as Morton Feldman and Meredith Monk.

Over the past few years juice have developed relationships with a number of electronica artists and visual artists and a growing amount of their work now combines live singing with electronics and/or visuals. They enjoyed performing a live original part-improvised score to a silent film, The Danger Girl, at the BFi Southbank as part of the Bird’s Eye View film festival and in 2007 performed in the London College of Fashion’s Graduate Show at the Royal Academy of Art alongside UK Beatboxing Champion, Beardyman.  Kerry Andrew's 90-minute visual-music-theatre work, sedna stories, was written for juice alongside film, electronics and a live 5-piece band.

juice are experienced music educators. They are currently Ensemble-in-residence at the universities of both York and Ulster and have run workshops and more lengthy projects at a number of other academic institutions. They have been part of the Live Music Now scheme since 2007, giving community concerts and workshops all over the country. Individually they share a wealth of experience teaching in primary and secondary schools and for organisations including Wigmore Hall, English Pocket Opera, Sound Inventors and spnm.

University Teaching - Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Junior, nationwide

juice have led workshops and given seminars and concerts in many academic institutions, including Queen's University, Belfast, Dartington College and the universities of Cardiff, Liverpool and Aberdeen. This has covered ensemble singing, composing for voices, experimental vocal music (study and performance), improvisation and music-theatre and has included performing works written by students for juice. In the autumn 2007 they led a 5-week long Collective Performance Project at Newcastle University which culminated in a public performance. In 2008/9, they will be an ensemble in residence at York and Ulster universities. juice have also led workshops in writing for voices at Junior Trinity College to ages 10-18.

www.juicevocalensemble.net
www.myspace.com/juicevocalensemble

Programmes

1) reimaginings

(n.b. programme includes electronics and visuals)

juice present a programme that showcases innovative ways of working in close collaboration with young British composers and visual artists such as Phillip Neil Martin and Adam Melvin. Material that began as improvisation in the studio has been reworked and scored into pieces; completed songs have been cut up and intertwined; music that was originally acoustic has been reinvented with live electronics; darkly kitsch visuals have added a completely new dimension.

Requirements for this concert: 3 mics with mic stands and stand lights; monitors; large projection screen and projector; laptop or DVD player (which has audio) AND CD player able to potentially work simultaneously; Audio Visual engineer or sound engineer.

2) folk tales

Albanian, Macedonian, Hungarian and Estonian folksongs make up the Eastern European element of this well-loved programme. Popular British folksongs are performed in unusual arrangements alongside traditional American lullabies and songs.

This concert can be tailored to give prominence to British, Eastern European or American folksongs. We also perform a version of the programme with clarinettist Matt Dibble, collaborating on The Water is Wide, a suite of well-known British folksongs.

3) Of the snow

'Who'd have thought
that snow falls' (Frank O'Hara)

Morton Feldman's rarely performed Three Voices was written for Joan La Barbara who sang one line live while the other two were pre-recorded. Juice perform a completely live version of this sensuous work. It can stand on its own in a short concert (approximately 50 minutes) or as half of a longer programme to include Elisabeth Lutyens's Of the Snow and Nadja Plein's The Flake the Wind.

4) the witching hour

A bewitching late night programme centred around Meredith Monk's Volcano Songs, and works by Piers Hellawell, Roger Marsh and juice. The programme includes music influenced by eerie myths and legends and pushes vocal boundaries with growling harmonics, percussive effects, yodelling and microtonal singing.

5) rockrainwindfire

Exploring the elements in new music: from Meredith Monk's evocative miniatures to music with hand percussion. This programme was first performed for the bmic Cutting Edge series and was subsequently broadcast in its entirety on BBC Radio 3.

6) tales of three

The number three appears throughout folklore as a symbol of mystical power and significance. Words and actions are often repeated three times in magic rituals. With this in mind, juice present an exhilarating programme of new music exploring the myths surrounding the number. As they say, all good things come in threes...

7) sundrenched and moondrunk

Music for a summer evening: this programme was inspired by the summer solstice and first performed on midsummer's eve. Named after a piece by juice's own Kerry Andrew, this is a programme of luscious new works to arouse the senses, including a selection from Roger Marsh's Pierrot Lunaire and pieces by exciting young upcoming composers.

8) Electrovox

(n.b. programme includes electronics and can be done with or without visuals)

A programme comprising works for vocals and electronics, from the atmospherically ethereal to the dirty and rumbling, and including vocal improvisation. juice are currently looking to expand their repertoire of music with electronics so this programme has the potential to include new commissions.

Requirements for this concert: 3 mics with mic stands and stand lights; monitors; CD player or laptop (plus laptop/DVD player if visuals requested); Sound engineer (and possibly Audio Visual engineer if visuals requested); large projection screen and projector for visuals if requested.

9) Siren Songs - one hour programme

(n.b. programme includes electronics and visuals)

A mixed programme of a cappella works and works with electronics and visuals directly based on mythological female characters from the Inuit Goddess of the sea, Sedna, to the Greek sirens and the Nordic war and fate goddesses.

Requirements for this concert: 3 mics with mic stands and stand lights; monitors; large projection screen and projector; laptop or DVD player (which has audio) AND CD player able to potentially work simultaneously; Audio Visual engineer or sound engineer.

"flawless performances" - www.classicalsource.com

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